Tsurugi Kamiya

"'Kamiya Tsurugi, 26 years old! 13 years of wage slavery!'"

Tsurugi Kamiya (狼谷 吊戯 Kamiya Tsurugi) is one of the strongest members of C3. He is said to be the “Ace of C3” and is Toma’s human experiment in an attempt to create a 9th Servamp.

Appearance
Tsurugi Kamiya is a 26 year old male with gold eyes and black hair. He has pale skin and is smaller than his teammates at C3. He is often seen wearing his C3 uniform, which resembles a straitjacket. He wears bands around his wrists that hang down and sway when he walks. Tsurugi also wears a single black stud in each ear.

History
Tsurugi states that he has lived at C3 ever since he was born. Yet he remembers when Toma picked him up - he wasn't able to eat, because he had no teeth, and he didn't even know how to drink from a baby's bottle. He was abused by his father and there is no mention of his mother. Toma brought him to the Tsuyuki family where he was occasionally raised (most likely by Syuhei's father in C3's HQ) and even celebrated his birthday. When Toma asked about his wish for his birthday, he said all he wanted was a real family - not sweets, toys, money or power - but he also knew this family wasn't his own real family.

When he was around 19, he became partners with Mikuni and Jeje, and shared a room with them. During this time, he received money from Mikuni for doing whatever he was told. Mikuni recalls that when the three of them were together, Tsurugi and Jeje spoke every night.

Tsurugi seems to have been involved with Toma in the past, but more about their relationship has yet to be revealed. It is known that Tsurugi will do anything that Toma orders him to, as a way to pay him back for saving him from his abusive father. When Mahiru sees scars on Tsurugi's upper body, he tells Mahiru he got them from making stupid mistakes while fighting.

It is known that in the past, Toma would send out Tsurugi, even when he was a young child to deal with vampires. Tsurugi would often face cruel treatment for failure and Toma appeared to treat him as no more than a tool. One time when he was very young, Yumikage and Junichirou were being pursued by several subclass and Tsurugi attacked them. However, the vampires flung him to the ground and after Toma killed them all, he took rubbed Tsurugi's face with his boot and told Yumi to tell his parents to pay for 'this thing's repairs'.

When he was fifteen, he had been on a mission with Yoshimasa when they were attacked and subdued by Otogiri and Higan. Tsurugi attempted to protect Yoshimasa by pretending to be Syuhei so Otogiri would kill him instead. Yoshimasa prevented him from it and was then stabbed. When Tsurugi tried to fight, Higan used his flames to hang Tsurugi upside-down and forced him to watch Yoshimasa die.

Story
He appears first in chapter 39 when Mahiru Shirota and co. are fighting against Tsubaki. Tsurugi fights alongside Junichiro Kurumamori and Yumikage Tsukimitsu. Tsurugi corners Tsubaki and is close on subduing him with Yumikage's help, but Kuro stops Yumikage from shooting, allowing Tsubaki to injure Tsurugi's head and then escaped with Higan's help. Afterwards, he introduced himself to Misono whom he recognised as Mikuni's younger brother and notes their resemblance. However, Tsurugi's explanation regarding him and Mikuni makes Misono afraid of him, prompting Jun to tell Tsurugi to stop. A few weeks afterwards, Tsurugi visits Mahiru's apartment, entering through the window, much to the shock of Mahiru, while Jun and Yumikage enters through the door. They informs the eves and servamps that the three of them have been appointed to become their bodyguards and escort them to C3 HQ. When Licht and Lawless refused, Tsurugi baits Licht into going to their HQ by telling him there are lots of melons that he can eat. After Licht and Lawless gone, Tsurugi and his partners brings Mahiru and Kuro with them for a lunch before going to HQ. After lunch, while on their way to HQ, they received order from Toma to capture nearby subclasses. However, Tsurugi let his bloodlust get the better of him, leading him to kill all the subclasses. Back at C3 HQ, Tsurugi meets Mikuni and the waste no time to exchange insults to one another. Situation gets out of control when Mikuni suggests to Mahiru to kill Tsurugi, and Tsurugi takes this as a challenge that he wholeheartedly accepts. He attacks Jeje, throwing him easily to the floor and then easily trips Mikuni. After defeating the two, he turns towards Kuro and inflicts a spell on him that binds the two together, so that the vampire can't seperate from him too much or else he will choke him, much to Kuro's dismay. Mikuni then uses his Lead to strangle Tsurugi, which could have killed him if Kuro didn't cut the rope. Once freed, under Syuhei's order, Tsurugi restraints Kuro when he uses his power to save him. Once Mikuni left, Tsurugi leaves to get something for a moment. After he is back, he frees Kuro from his restraint, apologising for restraining and thanking the vampire for saving him. When Mahiru asks Tsurugi and his teammates to take him to their missions, Tsurugi gives Mahiru Mikuni's old C3 uniform. Second day since Mahiru and the others arrives at C3, Tsurugi becomes Mahiru and Kuro's guardian, almost following them all the time during their stay, sharing one room with them. Tsurugi demonstrates how he always apologies to anyone who is getting mad at him even before they are saying anything and shows no shame in begging to them. He also shows how he has no interest in paper work and instead likes to make the papers into origami instead, which destroys Mahiru's image of how an adult supposed to be. He then tells Mahiru, that he can achieve everything if he apologize properly, a philosophy that Kuro quickly adopts but annoys Mahiru. Being called to the training room, Tsurugi tests new weapon that shot an artificial sunlight on Kuro, changing him into cat. Suddenly the alarm starts - and although C3 calls out it was a mistake, Tsurugi doesn't realize his surroundings anymore and attacks Kuro, pulling Mahiru and Izuna behind him "to protect them from vampire". Jun and Yumikage tries to calm him down, but Tsurugi is still unstable until Izuna stops the alarm. Tsurugi suddenly feels pain on his legs and is taken to medical room where he is approached by Toma. After a short conversation with the vice-manager, Tsurugi states that he will always follow his order. A few days later, several subclasses manages to escape their confinements, leading Tsurugi to go to apprehend them under Toma's order. Mahiru tries to stop Tsurugi from going alone, but Toma orders Tsurugi to restraint the Sloth Pair, which Tsurugi easily does. He is then approached by Jun who also tries to convince him, but Toma orders Tsurugi again, this time to eliminate Jun. With his mind still unstable, Tsurugi tells Jun that he must kill him to protect him, leading the two to fight. Despite Jun's attempt, Tsurugi heavily injures Jun and then goes to chase after the escaped subclasses. He finds Ray and Gil, the subclasses of the Servamp of Wrath and attacks them. A heated battle quickly ensues between Tsurugi and the two subclasses. The subclasses are nearly overwhelmed by Tsurugi, when suddenly the power in the facility cuts out and the communication systems shut down. Unable to receive further orders from Toma, a confused Tsurugi is pushed into the depths of a dysfunctional elevator filled with water by the subclasses. Since Tsurugi cannot swim, he begins to drown the moment he falls into the water. The Servamp of Wrath, The Mother, jumps in to save Tsurugi after hearing that the magician is the human whom Lawless and Licht are trying to save. When The Mother saves Tsurugi, the magician has a mental breakdown, crying out that he doesn't want to live anymore and just want to go back to the time before he was born. To calm him down, The Mother hugs him, allowing Tsurugi to let out all of his sadness. When he is considerably calmed down, the ceilings begins to fall down. The Mother protects Tsurugi, trying to escape from the place while carrying Tsurugi, who protests that he doesn't want to live anymore so she should just run and save herself. One of the ceiling hits The Mother, rendering her unable to run because her leg is stuck, but she is able to protect Tsurugi. She tells Tsurugi to escape alone, but Tsurugi refuses, stating that he can't walk alone so he will stay with her. The Mother then suggests that Tsurugi give her a name, but Tsurugi feels inferior about himself as he remembers his past with Toma which further agonised and convinced himself he can't do it.

The Mother shields Tsurugi from the falling debris, saving him though they got trapped inside a rubble as the result. Tsurugi begs The Mother to stop protecting him because no one will come to get him and he feels his life was already happy enough for him, a statement that The Mother rebuffs as a lie. They are freed from the rubble when Toma came to help Tsurugi. He at first thinks that this Toma was another one of his illusion until Toma offers his hand towards him, convincing Tsurugi that Toma is real and thinks that he came to help him because they are like a family. Tsurugi introduces Toma to The Mother and offers her to form a contract with Toma instead because he couldn't think of any name for her, but Toma then shoots The Mother through the chest, shocking Tsurugi.

Tsurugi is incapacitated as Mahiru arrives. Almost immediately, Toma shoots at him and berates him over being like his uncle as the two engage in a fight. Mahiru attempts to grab Toma's tie when his arm suddenly becomes entangled with Toma's chain, giving the latter the chance to shoot him from point-blank range.

Mahiru discovers himself inside his mind and comes to the conclusion that he has died. He sees the black cat creature apparently teaching school, who taunts him. Mahiru comes to the conclusion that he has died before remembering someone shielding him from the blast and realizing that he has to be alive if the black cat creature is there. Suddenly, a small child wearing an oversized cape appears and runs around on the black board, covering it in doodles. The creature exclaims someone else's thoughts are intercepting Mahiru's and angrily tries to stop the boy. The child stands on the ceiling above Mahiru who tries to ask if he was the one who saved him. The boy briefly changes back into his true identity, Tsurugi, and instead asks if Mahiru has finished his summer work.

Both become young children and talk about how neither of them have finished and that both are lonely. However, Mahiru thinks of how he wants to make his uncle proud and uses it to complete the work. Tsurugi replies that he copied off Jun and got in trouble. He says that he wants his grown-up self to be able to look back at happy summer memories, but laments that it was impossible as he returns to his adult form. Tsurugi states that having someone there was enough for him but says that Toma has no one. He goes on to state that no one can live alone, and without anyone else, he is only 'something'.

Mahiru attempts to comfort a once again young Tsurugi who shows a small black box. However, he explains that he lost the key and can't open it. He then presents Mahiru with a second box he calls his 'family box'. However, Mahiru discovers it has no bottom and is empty. Tsurugi tries shooing him away and looks hopelessly at the box. Mahiru tells Tsurugi to go with him and encourages to him to he independent as his broom becomes a spear. Tsurugi becomes anxious at the thought of leaving and panics, fearing there won't be anywhere to go, but Mahiru tells him he will help. Tsurugi becomes an adult and tells Mahiru his birthday, who says that they will celebrate it.

Mahiru wakes up in rubble and tries to make a sling for his arm. Tsurugi's spirit, still in the form of a child, ties it form him and then points in the direction of his body.

Tsurugi's body gets up and Toma notes that his spirit isn't there. He decides that it's fine and blindfolds the body as they prepare to fight. Tsurugi's body mutters something to Yumikage, who remembers meeting Tsurugi in school and recalls a time when they went to buy a porn magazine for Jun's birthday. Yumikage then has a flashback of going on a mission with Tsurugi. It then changes to Tsurugi and Jun reacting to his new hair and attitude. Yumikage asks for them to hang out and manages to negotiate a lower price for Tsurugi since they're friends. Later, while hanging out, Tsurugi tells Yumimage he wants them to be equal friends. He then suddenly remembers when Tsurugi told him to kill the latter if time came when he was no longer a human, causing Yumikage in the present to realize Toma plans for Tsurugi to be the ninth servamp.

Kuro and Yumikage are outraged by Toma, who mocks them for not acting sooner. Yumikage then begins the fight. Toma retaliates, using Tsurugi as a puppet. Yumikage fires off in all directions as Tsurugi's body attacks him. Kuro and Lawless agree that no one else should become a servamp and that Toma must be stopped.

Yumikage and Kuro fight Toma and Tsurugi's body, but it quickly becomes apparent they have no hope against them. Yumikage calls for Tsurugi to wake up to no avail. In the past, Tsurugi was aware of what was going on when Shifumi died, as Toma had decided to use her among others as sacrifices for creating servamp. Tsurugi is appalled, but Toma calls him out for not trying to stop him and says that since the theory is complete there won't be anyone else besides them.

Yumikage decides that Tsurugi killed Shifumi and attacks, though he is upset that he must now break his promise. He remembers that the first decision that he ever made was to become Tsurugi's friend. Meanwhile, Toma forces Tsurugi's body to crash into Kuro and Yumikage, having it kick Yumikage into the wall. He then sees Tsurugi crying and saying that Junichirou wasn't going to pick them up. In grade school. Junichirou decides to befriend Tsurugi for his ability to create paper airplanes, a skill taught by Toma. Yumikage tells Tsurugi that if Toma is a part of everything he is, then he is the one who can reach out to him.

At this moment, Toma shoots at the wounded Yumikage, but Tsurugi shields him. Content that Tsurugi is no longer a puppet, Yumikage falls unconscious and Tsurugi cries over him. Tsurugi's spirit finally finds him and merges back into him as they mourn for Yumikage.

Tsurugi conjures a sword and gets up, using the blade to cut away his uniform. Mahiru then arrives as Toma tries to shoot him once again and uses an invisibility spell. Tsurugi protects Mahiru and goes after Toma to kill him, only to be taunted as Toma remarks that since he taught Tsurugi how to fight, he knows exactly how he will act. However, once more Tsurugi is used as a puppet and Mahiru objects to Toma referring to him as a thing. As they fight, Mahiru and Kuro begin losing as they cannot focus on Toma's location which is given away by his shadow. Luckily, Tsurugi begins to help them, as despite his movements being controlled, he is able to call out where Toma is and tells them that he is being used as a distraction and that they should keep track of Toma. Toma decides to go after Mahiru, however he gains the upper hand and punches Toma in the face and says to take a seat. He yells about what joy is, which appears to make Tsurugi happy. Tsurugi takes his sword and stabs Toma through the shoulder. Kuro deals several more blows to Toma before ripping a black box out of his chest. Mahiru's spear becomes a key and opens the box.

Mahiru finds himself in a room with the black cat creature, who says that they have gotten through and complains that it was hard to get into someone else's mind. The room shakes and Mahiru finds the only way to leave is a ladder and climbs it. He discovers the higher he goes, the darker it gets and hear's voices saying that someone should get a lock. He comes across a child Tsurugi who holds a candle. Tsurugi says he is unable to climb with the light and asks if Mahiru can help him. He gets onto Mahiru's shoulders and looks over at a door where he can see glimpses of him and Toma. They see several flashbacks of Toma's before viewing the time after Toma killed his parents. In the past, Toma had come home smiling asks if Tsurugi wants to go out and then realizes Tsurugi has no shoes and has never gone outside before. The Tsurugi riding on Mahiru cries while looking at the memory. When they arrive at a ledge, Tsurugi disappears.

Mahiru confronts Toma in his mind, who explains that he wanted to create servamps in order to be remembered as someone special. While speaking to Toma, he reveals the young Tsurugi under his cape who presents Toma with the black box. Tsurugi tells him only he can open the box, which Toma does. Inside, are a pair of shoes which Tsurugi appears ecstatic over, saying that they were the first things Toma bought him. He then puts them on and becomes an adult, asking where they should go from there. The world around the three of them collapses and Toma asks when Tsurugi got so big.

In the real world, Toma takes out a gun to shoot himself in the head. Kuro hits the gun away, but Toma strikes him and takes a knife to his neck. Mahiru's uncle arrives to once again stop Toma and restrains him. Tsurugi goes to him and says that they should leave that place. However, Toma pushes him away as debris collapses on top of him and Tsurugi's chocker disappears. Tsurugi then begins screaming and crying as he watches.

Tsurugi wakes up in the hospital and talks to Yumikage who tells him Junichirou died. Tsurugi expresses distress until it is revealed that it was a prank and Junichirou is alive. He then tells off his friends for doing such a thing. Tsurugi asks if there is anything he can do to make up for the awful things he did, and Junichirou tells him to run in his place for the relay event with Takuto. Later, Tsurugi goes to see Freya, who is sleeping. Syuhei finds him and Tsurugi comments on his hair. Syuhei then thanks him for not letting him fight.

Mahiru and Tsurugi share a bun together, which makes Tsurugi happy. Tooru gets a call from Toma, who tells him to let Tsurugi believe he is dead, however Tsurugi overhears and frantically tries to speak with Toma. He says he is angry at Toma and resolves to wait for him so he has a place to come back to. Tooru asks him if he's being like a puppy and Tsurugi responds that he and Toma are family.

Personality
Tsurugi seems to be very confident and self reliant. He is pretty extroverted calls most of his collegues nicknames with the honorific "-chan". Althogh he states that he only does the work he is paid for, he seems having fun in fighting against Tsubaki.

He also states that he has no pride at all and will do everything for money - he calls him self a shoe licking piece of shit. As long as the price is acceptable, he would work for anyone and do any work. Even if there is no mission, the offers his colleagues to do something for money (e.g. perform something) - but they usually turn down his request.

Also - he has a very childish behaviour, and has no interest in paper work (on contrary - he uses to make paper planes out of documents - his explanation is: the more important the document, the better the plane will fly. All of his reports are written in hiragana; he doesn't use kanji (usually only little children use only hiragana because they haven't learned kanji in school yet). When he isn't motivated to do something, he usually won't do it and apologize heavily afterwards. The others say, Tsurugi abuses his cuteness to make the others forgive him.

He makes fun of most of his colleagues, but he shows deep respect towards Toma and would do everything Toma says - even if it's killing his friends. According to Mikuni, Toma was the one who broke Tsurugi and made his mentality unstable at certain times, which further proven when Yumikage and Kurumamori becomes hostile towards Toma when he approaches Tsurugi.

Tsurugi seems to have grown a bit after the C3 collapse and in order to atone for the things he did to his friends, he asks them what he can do for them and does not demand any money. He also considers himself to be Toma's only family.

When Mahiru spoke with Tsurugi's spirit, the spirit made it very apparent that Tsurugi was very lonely. An example of this was when he spoke about his home life as a child, he said that he was always home alone and had to copy off of Junichirou for his summer homework project, since he had no happy memories to write about. He also showed a fixation on a small, black box he lost the key for, which later was revealed to be something only Toma could open. Overall, the spirit voiced a strong desire for Toma to be proud of him, similar to Mahiru's need for his uncle to be proud of him.

Taishi Toma
Tsurugi was picked up by Toma as a baby and was afterwards brainwashed and experimented on by him. He is also the cause of Tsurugi's instability. Tsurugi is entirely devoted to him, and wants Toma to be proud of him. He will do whatever Toma says even if it means killing his friends or putting his life at risk. Tsurugi is revealed to consider himself Toma's only family and Toma tells him that Tsurugi is the only reason he has lived so long.

Yumikage Tsukimitsu
The two have been friends for a long time. According to Yumikage, becoming friends with Tsurugi was the first decision he ever made on his own though Junichirou was shocked by this, as he did not believe the two would become friends. Tsurugi told Yumikage that he wanted them to be equals. Yumikage is visibly harsher towards Tsurugi than Junichirou, often seen yelling at him. He was also willing to prank Tsurugi by telling him Junichirou died. Tsurugi was aware of Yumikage's feelings for Shifumi, though remained quiet.

Quotes

 * "I want a lot of pay, so I'll listen to anything you say! My talent is bowing down!"
 * "I'm a guy who will lick shoes and everything if I get money! I'm all licky!"
 * "Uwah... Uwaaaaaaaaaah!? I think I'm gonna die!? So happy!!"
 * "When it comes to Kuni-chan I'm always in my fully-trying-to-fight style!!"
 * "Kuni-chan would abuse me, and if I just bowed down and let him step on my head I'd get a lot of money"
 * "He needs a place to return to, or else he can’t come back…… No, I’ll be here waiting as family."
 * "Ahhh…I see…This is…That’s how it is…That’s right…"

Trivia
Tsurugi Kamiya
 * Toma calls him the "Ace of C3" - and he also is the first assistant of the vice president of C3 (Toma).
 * His code name is "Balder" - he is the suicide captain of C3.
 * He likes to give his colleagues nicknames.
 * In regards to his behavior and personality, he is very similar to Mikuni, though neither him nor Mikuni would ever admit it.
 * His behavior seems to change drastically when he is with Toma.
 * Tsurugi likes and is good at origami, especially paper airplanes.
 * He has several scars on his upper body from a fight. It is suggested he got them while protecting Mikuni.
 * Tsurugi can't swim - according to him, it's because he never attended swimming lessons at school, so that no one would ever see his scars.
 * Tsurugi's favorite food (according to the fan book) are strawberries
 * Also, according to the fan book, his personal parameter (which is his best) is agility where he scored with 10 (out of 10). His outward appearance parameter is scored with 9, despite the fact that he has a lot of scars.
 * Tsurugi’s birthday, 31 August, is actually the day when Toma found him.
 * Tsurugi is Toma's weapon/sword; a tsurugi is a type of Japanese sword.
 * His username on Servamphoto (a parody of Instagram) is tsurugu_wanwan.
 * In a 2022 popularity poll, Tsurugi came ninth in the WEB version of the poll, and eleventh in the mail-in version.